Marvel Cinematic Universe In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stan Lee portrayed himself as an
informant for the
Watchers, keeping watch and detailing events that take place on Earth. Lee appeared in each installment of the franchise from
Iron Man (2008) to
Avengers: Endgame (2019), prior to his death. According to
Joe Russo, Lee's cameos were filmed consecutively with cameos already filmed for releases in 2019.
Films • In
Iron Man (2008), Lee, credited as "Himself", appears at a gala cavorting with three blondes, where
Tony Stark mistakes him for
Hugh Hefner. In the theatrical release of the film, Stark simply greets Lee as "Hef" and moves on; another version of the scene was filmed where Stark realizes his mistake, but Lee graciously responds, "That's okay, I get this all the time." In 2008, Stan Lee named this as his favorite cameo appearance to that date. • In
The Incredible Hulk (2008), Lee appears as a hapless citizen who accidentally ingests a
soft drink contaminated with
Bruce Banner's blood. He subsequently drops it and falls ill to gamma radiation sickness, leading to the discovery of Banner's location in a
bottling plant in Brazil. A character in the film is also named after him: Stanley Lieber, who owns Stanley's Pizza Parlor. • In
Iron Man 2 (2010), during the
Stark Expo, Lee, wearing suspenders and a red shirt and black and purple tie, is mistakenly greeted by Tony Stark as "
Larry King". • In
Thor (2011), Lee appears among many people at the site where
Thor's hammer
Mjolnir lands on Earth. He tears the bed off his
pickup truck in an attempt to pull Mjolnir out of the ground with a chain and causes everyone in the scene to laugh by asking, "Did it work?". His character is credited as "Stan the Man", a nickname he had adopted during the Silver Age of Comic Books. • In
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Lee plays a general in
World War II who mistakes another man for
Steve Rogers / Captain America, commenting, "I thought he'd be taller." Lee did not create the character of Captain America, but created the idea of him using his shield as a throwing weapon. Furthermore, he was responsible for reviving the character in the
Silver Age of Comic Books and co-wrote most of the character's stories in
The Avengers and his solo stories in that period. • In
The Avengers (2012), Lee's character is interviewed about the Avengers saving
Manhattan. Lee's character responds, "Superheroes in New York? Give me a break", and then returns to his game of chess. He also appears in a deleted scene in which, when a waitress flirts with Steve Rogers, Lee says to him, "Ask for her number, you moron!" • In
Iron Man 3 (2013), Lee portrays a
beauty pageant judge who appears on a television monitor and happily gives one of the contestants a 10. • In
Thor: The Dark World (2013), Lee appears as a
mental ward patient who loans his shoe to
Erik Selvig for a demonstration about "the Convergence" in his delusions. When Selvig finishes and asks if anyone has questions, Lee says, "Yeah, can I have my shoe back?". • In
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Lee plays a
security guard at the
Smithsonian Institution who after discovering that Captain America stole his uniform from an exhibit, says, "Oh man, I am
so fired". • In
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Lee appears as an elderly gentleman having a conversation with a significantly younger woman.
Rocket, viewing him through a scanning device, dismisses him as part of what he saw was wrong with the planet
Xandar. His catchphrase, Excelsior appears in Kree on the device. Lee noted at the time that this was his favorite cameo before
X-Men: Apocalypse. • In
Ant-Man (2015), Lee appears as a
bartender in a story Luis tells to
Scott Lang explaining that
Sam Wilson was looking for him. His part in the story is encouraging Luis's cousin, and the informer of the story, Ignacio, to talk to a "crazy stupid fine" woman at a table separate from the bar. • In
Captain America: Civil War (2016), Lee appears as a
FedEx postman, delivering a package from Steve Rogers to Tony Stark at the end of the film, mispronouncing the latter's name as "Tony Stank". • In
Doctor Strange (2016), Lee appears as a bus rider reading
Aldous Huxley's
The Doors of Perception, oblivious to a battle between
Doctor Strange,
Karl Mordo, and
Kaecilius. • In
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Lee appears as an
astronaut telling a story to the
Watchers, mentioning his stint as a deliveryman in
Civil War. He appears again in the post-credits scenes, where the Watchers leave, tired of his stories as he quotes to them that they are his only ride back to Earth. • In
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Lee appears as an annoyed neighbor named Gary who, after witnessing
Spider-Man mistakenly accosting an innocent civilian says to him, "Don't make me come down there, you punk!" His other neighbor, Marjorie, greets him, asking about his welfare, while he does the same to her, asking about her mother. • In
Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Lee appears as a servant to the
Grandmaster on
Sakaar who cuts Thor's hair. • In
Black Panther (2018), Lee appears as a patron of a casino in
Busan,
South Korea, and takes
T'Challa's won, but unclaimed
casino tokens. • In
Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Lee appears as the driver of
Peter Parker's
school bus. When the students on the bus watch
Ebony Maw's ship arriving, the driver says, "What's the matter with you kids? You never seen a spaceship before?". • In
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Lee appears as a
pedestrian whose car is shrunk by the
Wasp. He remarks, "Well the '60s were fun, but now I'm paying for it". • In
Captain Marvel (2019), Lee makes a posthumous appearance as himself, riding on a subway train and reading his lines from the screenplay for the film
Mallrats. When he sees
Carol Danvers, he smiles at her, and she smiles back. Although Lee did not create Danvers, the film's Captain Marvel, he co-created the
first incarnation of the character in Marvel Comics. The
Marvel Studios logo at the beginning of the film also pays tribute to Lee, with his MCU cameo appearances being incorporated into the logo and ending with the message "Thank You Stan". • In
Avengers: Endgame (2019), Lee makes a posthumous appearance,
digitally de-aged as a car driver in 1970, driving past army base Camp Lehigh and shouting, "Hey man, make love, not war!" The scene also features Lee alongside a digital re-creation of his wife,
Joan Boocock Lee, as she appeared in the year 1970. His dog, Charlotte Lee is also referenced in name under Scott Lang's name on the Wall of the Vanished that Scott Lang sees. This was the final MCU and Marvel film overall to feature a Stan Lee cameo. • In
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), while Lee doesn't appear in the film, the film's screenplay indicates that a Lee look-a-like was intended to make a cameo appearance at the end of the film when Peter Parker unsuccessfully attempts to reconnect with Michelle "MJ" Jones and Ned Leeds. In an
Easter egg by the film's
VFX team, Lee's birthday is used as the number plate of a taxi cab in the film's bridge fight scene. • In
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023),
James Gunn originally intended the character Lambshank to be voiced by and modeled after Lee. Following Lee's death, Lambshank was played by Gunn. • In
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), Lee makes a posthumous appearance on an ad for Stanlee Steamer, parody of
Stanley Steemer. The ad shows an image of Lee himself, the catchphrase "Your friendly neighborhood cleaner" (referring to the catchphrase for Spider-Man), as well as displaying his birth year 1922. Lee also appears in archival footage used for a montage in the ending credits for the film.
Television • Lee appears in the
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 episode, "
T.R.A.C.K.S.", originally broadcast February 4, 2014. In his cameo he is portrayed as a kindly older man who sympathizes with the elaborate cover story Simmons had created. • Additionally his picture appears in the first episode of the web series
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (which serves as a spin-off to
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). His picture is seen in minute 03:10 in a box carried by
Phil Coulson. • Lee appears in the
Agent Carter season 1 episode "
The Blitzkrieg Button", originally broadcast on January 27, 2015. In the cameo, Lee asks
Howard Stark if he can borrow his newspaper to read the sports section. • Lee cameos in various seasons of
Marvel's Netflix television series through still-photograph as a
police officer of the
New York City Police Department. Lee cameos in
Daredevil,
Jessica Jones,
Luke Cage,
Iron Fist,
The Defenders, and
The Punisher. In
Iron Fist, he is identified as having assumed an identity as Captain
Irving Forbush. With the exception of
Daredevil, Lee did not have a hand in the creation of any of these characters. • In
season 2 of
Jessica Jones, Irving Forbush became an
attorney with mention of "Forbush and Associates". • In
Luke Cage season 2 episode "
Can't Front on Me",
Luke Cage passes a
billboard with Lee's image, depicting a legal advertisement for Forbush stating, "Call Forbush… get what you deserve." • Lee appears in the
Hulu television series
Runaways during a season 1 episode as a limousine driver for the
titular team. Lee did not have a hand in the creation of the Runaways. • Lee appears in the
Freeform series
Cloak & Dagger during a
season 1 episode in a painting modeled after
Andy Warhol's famous
The Shot Marilyns. Lee did not have a hand in the creation of
Cloak and Dagger. • A tribute to Lee appears in the
seventh episode of the
Disney+ series
WandaVision (2021) where license plate of a car belonging to
Wanda Maximoff has the number "122822" representing Lee's birth date, December 28, 1922, according to the show's director
Matt Shakman. It is then repeated in
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) but this time, as a taxi number. • In the first episode of
Loki, one of the portraits within the
TVA's courtroom has six people lined up, one of them resembling Stan Lee, which suggests that he was an agent to the TVA. • Stan is referenced in the
Disney+ series
What If...? episode, "
What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?" as Stanley's Pizza Parlor is referenced as a delivery hat and jacket appears on Bruce Banner's desk at Culver University. This is referring to a deleted scene in
The Incredible Hulk with Banner disguised as a deliverer for Stanley's pizza. Lee did not have a hand in the creation of the character
Deadpool. • In
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Lee and his wife Joan appear as witnesses to
Apocalypse's nuclear missile launch. He has said this was his favorite cameo because it was different from his other cameos in that it had Joan's presence. In the PG-13 cut of the film (
Once Upon a Deadpool), the writing "
RIP" was added to the graffiti art due to the cut being released after Lee's death in November 2018.
Spider-Man trilogy • In
Spider-Man (2002), he appeared during
Spider-Man's first battle with the
Green Goblin, pulling a young girl away from falling debris. In the DVD's deleted scenes, Lee plays a street vendor who tries to sell Peter Parker a pair of
sunglasses. • In
Spider-Man 2 (2004), Lee repeats his
Spider-Man stunt with a young woman, during Spider-Man's first battle with
Doctor Octopus. In a blooper scene that appears as an extra on the film's DVD release, Lee has another cameo, saying, "Look, Spider-Man stole that kid's sneakers". • In
Spider-Man 3 (2007), Lee appears in a credited role as the "Man in
Times Square". He stands next to Peter Parker, both of them reading a
news ticker about Spider-Man, and commenting to Peter that, "You know, I guess one person can make a difference". He then says his
catchphrase, "Nuff said", and leaves Peter to dwell on that thought.
Fantastic Four series • In
Fantastic Four (2005), Lee appears for the first time as a character that he created for the comics,
Willie Lumpkin, the
mail carrier who greets the
Fantastic Four as they enter the
Baxter Building. • In
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Lee appears as himself at Reed Richards' and Susan Storm's first wedding, being turned away by a security guard for not being on the guest list. In
Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965), in which the couple married, Lee and
Jack Kirby are similarly turned away.
The Amazing Spider-Man series • In
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Lee is a
librarian at
Midtown Science High School, comically oblivious to the fight between
Spider-Man and the
Lizard happening behind him due to listening to
classical music through
headphones. He walks out of the library as the fight continues. • In
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Lee is a guest at Peter Parker and
Gwen Stacy's
graduation, recognizing Parker.
Sony's Spider-Man Universe • In
Venom (2018), Lee makes a cameo appearance as a man walking his dog. Lee inexplicably overhears the
symbiote and
Eddie Brock's discussion and encourages the two to keep Brock's relationship with
Anne Weying alive and thriving. His dog interests and hungers
Venom, while the symbiote asks "Who is that guy?". This was the last cameo made by Lee released before his death. Lee did not have a hand in the creation of the character Venom. • Stan Lee makes an appearance in
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) on a magazine that Venom straightens up. • On the set of
Morbius (2022), Stan's catchphrase, "Excelsior", is referenced in graffiti as "XLsior!". Lee did not have a hand in the creation of the character
Blade. The scene has not been released. • In
Daredevil (2003), as a child,
Matt Murdock stops Lee from crossing the street and getting hit by a bus. • In
Hulk (2003), he appears walking alongside former TV-series Hulk
Lou Ferrigno in an early scene, both as security guards at Bruce Banner's lab. It was his first speaking role in a film based on one of his characters. • In
Man-Thing (2005), a photograph of Lee is seen on a board of missing people. • Lee filmed a cameo in the 2010 film
Kick-Ass, as a man watching news footage of the
title character but was cut out from the film. The film is based on a
comic book series that originated with Marvel's creator-owned imprint
Icon Comics. Lee was not involved in the creation of the series or its characters. • In
Big Hero 6 (2014), Lee's voice and likeness are used for the father of character
Fred. Though he appears in a
portrait earlier in the film, Lee's cameo is a
post-credits scene in which he demonstrates to his son that they have many things to talk about; he is credited immediately afterwards. Lee was not involved with the creation of the original
Big Hero 6 comic book on which the film is based. • Lee makes a posthumous appearance in
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), He also appears in multiple quick moments, like a few frames of a train as it is passing by Miles swinging in New York. Lee's glasses appear after the credits in a tribute image to him and co-creator
Steve Ditko. • Lee has a cameo in a short promotional advertisement for
Spider-Man: Homecoming, that aired on
ABC during the network's coverage of the
2017 NBA Finals.
Non-MCU television series • One of Lee's earliest contributions to animation based on Marvel properties was narrating the
1980s Incredible Hulk animated series, always beginning his narration with a self-introduction and ending with "This is Stan Lee saying,
Excelsior!". Lee had previously narrated the "Seven Little Superheroes" episode of
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, which the
Hulk series was paired with for broadcast. • Lee did the narration for the original 1989
X-Men animated series pilot titled
X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men. • Lee voiced himself in two episodes of
Fantastic Four: "Incursion of the Skrulls" and "Super-Skrull". In the episode "Stan By Me", Stan, along with
Mary Jane Watson,
Phil Coulson, and
Harry Osborn, helps
Spider-Man fight the
Lizard. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Stan is a founding member of
S.H.I.E.L.D. and is aware of Peter Parker's secret identity as Spider-Man. Other references, such as a boat called USS
Excelsior, appear throughout the series. • Lee has appeared in
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.. He was first alluded to as a salesman in the pilot episode, "Doorway to Destruction", and later appeared in a recurring role as the mayor of Vista Verde, a town near the titular group's headquarters. The first episode implies that his name is
Frederick Frederickson III. Later episodes reveal that he was once a famous superhero named Boss Awesome, and that he had a steampunk-themed nemesis named Baron Von Steamer, who also appears in the present as an enemy of Big Hero 6. While Lee had finished season one while still alive, he had recorded dialogue for season two before his death. The episode "Supersonic Sue" is dedicated to him. • Lee portrayed a future version of Tony Stark in "Episode 205 – The Future!" of the comedy web series
Avengers Assemble!. In this episode, he delivered from the future a cryptic message to the rest of his fellow Avengers, but constantly frustrated his companions due to his ineptness with the technology of his future era. • Lee appears several times in the refurbished version of
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. • In the
Phineas and Ferb crossover special
Mission Marvel (2013), Lee cameos as a New York City hot dog vendor who moves to Danville later in the episode. • Stan Lee's minifigure appeared in computer-animated
Lego films
Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload and
Trouble in Wakanda as a food vendor and in
The Thanos Threat as one of the Ravagers. • Lee appeared in one of the "Origin Shorts" from the 2017 animated series
Spider-Man as a cameraman who interviews Peter Parker before he enters a wrestling match. He also appeared in the second-season episode "Bring on the Bad Guys". • Lee appears in the
Guardians of the Galaxy episode "Mission: Breakout" as an elevator operator at the
Collector's lair. • Lee has a posthumous cameo in the
Marvel Future Avengers anime series episode "Green Goblin vs. The Hulk" (2020) as a hot dog vendor.
Book appearances • Lee makes an appearance in
Spider-Man Ultimate Picture Book by Kathleen Duey, Robert Gould, and Eugene Epstein as a scientist overlooking
Norman Osborn examining a genetically enhanced spider; the same one that will eventually bite Peter Parker. • Lee makes an appearance in the novel
Spider-Man: The Gathering of the Sinister Six by
Adam-Troy Castro. In the book, “publishing mogul,
Stan Lee…” is recognized by
Peter Parker as being in attendance at Brick Johnson’s funeral.
Theme park attraction appearances • Stan Lee Boulevard exists at Universal's Islands of Adventure. • Lee makes a cameo as one of the Collector's prisoners in
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!. • Lee appears in the safety video/pre-show for the
Iron Man Experience attractions found at
Hong Kong Disneyland. • The
Disneyland meet and greet for Captain Marvel shows Lee's birth and death dates on a crate. its 2001 sequel
Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, and the 2010 video game
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Additionally, in 2000's
Spider-Man, alongside playing the narrator, Lee's name spelled backwards (EEL_NATS) on the PS1 version serves as a cheat code that, when entered, will unlock everything in the game. • Lee made his first-ever onscreen video game appearance as a senator named after himself in
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. • Lee narrates
Iron Man: Armored Avenger,
The Avengers Origins: Hulk,
The Amazing Spider-Man: An Origin Story, and
Avengers Origins: Assemble! apps for the
iPad,
iPhone, and
iPod Touch, which were released by
Disney Publishing Worldwide in February 2012. • Lee is a playable character in
Activision's
The Amazing Spider-Man video game, which was released in June 2012, as a tie-in to the
film of the same name. In the game, Lee is depicted as having the same superpowers as Spider-Man which he uses to retrieve the pages of a new comic book manuscript that he had written but lost and subsequently scattered around Manhattan. He also voices a character with his first name in the main story mode, who calls Peter about the charges to his credit card when Peter's walking to
Curt Connors' sewer lab. • Lee appears as a playable Lego version of himself in
Lego Marvel Super Heroes (released October 2013), where he was able to turn into a Hulk-like creature but with the same hair, mustache, and glasses. He is referred to as "Excelsior Hulk", a play on the Hulk and Lee's catchphrase. • Lee voiced S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Lee in the game
Marvel Heroes Omega. • Lee reprised his role, appearing as himself in
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game, which was released in April 2014, as a tie-in to the
film of the same name. He can be seen whenever Spider-Man enters the comic book store. During the credits sequence, his character is cleaning Tony Stark's apartment, casually picks up Mjolnir, and accidentally shoots a bolt of lightning across the room. The game's
downloadable content,
The City That Never Sleeps, features a dedication to him in the credits. • In
Spider-Man: Miles Morales, there is a statue of Lee next to Mick's diner, which he owned in
Spider-Man. • In ''
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy'', Stan Lee's glasses appear as an Easter egg in the
Collector's Emporium describing the man who wore them as a "powerful cosmic entity seemingly capable of being anywhere in the galaxy at any given time", it also references his cameos themselves and includes his catchphrase, "Excelsior". ==Non-Marvel appearances==